Monday, December 5, 2011

Week 37

The multi-grain whole wheat was so loaded with good stuff (rye flour, whole wheat, oats, cornmeal, wheat bran, honey) that it came out like a toasting bread - a volkornbrot.

The scene: I was running the bike deliveries most of the morning so I missed the market (save for the 10-minute set-up period). Weather was beautiful on the bike though -- I delivered to 30 homes in Watts-Hillandale and Old West. I heard from the crew that things were busy at the market -- a four-hour market now compacted into two-hours makes for a flurry of activity.

The crew: A lot of first-time customers are mystified by our business model and surprised that high-quality breads could be found at a pop-up stand on a streetcorner. One woman, who had an "are you kidding me?" reaction after tasting the babka, asked, "So are you all friends?", indicating AR, SZ, RML, and myself, to which I (comically) replied, "Sort of." Relying on these guys throughout the year has made our team really deep. January will mark our one-year anniversary and I would like to thank our crew, volunteers, customers, and friends by holding a Berenbaum's Holiday Party. Email me at berenbaums at gmail.com for a select invite. The date is December 18th. Also, big shout-out to AS who came through the kitchen (along with AR) in the morning to help with the bread-forming -- your contributions on the discussion subjects of Ezra Pound, Wyndham Lewis, and other Modernists is both recognized and appreciated!

Our giveaway winner Howard W. is a happy man, pictured here with AR.

The Weekend, Part Deux: Sunday, AS and I showed up at the new JCC on Cornwallis Rd. for their Chanukah Celebration. We sold the 25 babkas I had reserved for the occasion and 12 volkornbrot. The crowd reaction was positive, although we received a lot of requests for Sweet Poppy-filled Babka.

BUNS: I got word from George at BUNS that he used two dozen of our challah buns for a specialty burger: Patty, Fried Egg, Gruyere, Grilled mushrooms.